Mar 24, 2014 if you want to avoid this whole mess but wheres the fun in not showing off your knowledge, use alum in place of alumnus and alumna and alums in lieu of alumni and alumnae. If a group of former students comprises both men and women, the men and women are alumni. A fellow equissage alumnus is the massage therapist for cigar, the 1996 horse of the year. An alumnus or an alumna of a college, university, or other school is a former student who has. Many words are exactly as they are in the ancient languages and some are borrowed with minor changes. Alumnus is defined as a graduate of a school, college, or university.
I consider alumni in the title to be inappropriate. Alumni refers to more than one alumnus think of a graduating class. The princeton alumni weekly named turing the second most significant alumnus in the history of princeton university, second only to president james madison. Is an active supporter of scms and the alumni association. Borrowed from latin alumnus literally foster child, nourished one. Francis honored stokes by naming a new field house after its most famous alumnus at the beginning of the second year, brother bergson asked a young alumnus to be the housefather for the year the fact that the government employee in question is a mckinsey alumnus does not allay any of my concerns a former house budget chairman and fox news alumnus, kasich was a libertarian leaning. Alumni is the masculine plural, and alumnae is the feminine plural. If you want to avoid this whole mess but wheres the fun in not showing off your knowledge, use alum in place of alumnus and alumna and alums in. Ap style alumnus, alumni, alumna, and alumnae writing explained. Oct 18, 2019 an alum is short for a mail or female graduate, either alumnus masculine or alumna feminine.
Concerned alumni initiated an organized campaign to restore the orgo night show by publishing a series of pamphlets addressing the issues. I wrote about the words alum and alumni in some of my grammar girl books, ive. Alumnae plural of alumna females that have graduated. The noun alumnus means a male graduate or former student of a particular university, college, or school. Ap style alumnus, alumni, alumna, and alumnae writing. The latin term for a former school is alma mater, meaning nourishing mother. Notable alumni gsal, the grammar school at leeds, lgs and lghs. Theyre hard enough to remember, but then you also have to contend with alums versus alumni for mixed groups of graduates. Alumni actually is the plural form of alumnus, a latin word that means a graduate or former student of an educational institution.
Can someone explain the correct use of the terms alumni. Download the dictionary app today and you can be educating yourself. Youll remember that a couple of weeks ago, i had a piece from neal whitman about homecoming being called hoco, and neal was also kind enough to point out that. Note that, strictly speaking, alumnus and alumni are masculine. Alumnus, alumna, alumni, and alumnus are all from latin. Latin words construct their different forms using other rules as used in the english language. As the previous answers have indicated alumnaae is rarely seen in the uk, except for some old girls associations where they want to show they know the difference. Difference between alumni and alumnus difference between. Edward newton, a magnificent farce and other diversions of a book. As an adjective graduate is graduated, arranged by degrees. We used to have alumnus male singular, alumni male plural, alumna female singular and alumnae female. The word in singular form, of course is unlikely to be used, for example, in the education section of.
Oct 14, 2016 alumnus, alumna, alumni, and alumnus are all from latin. Alumnus is used when the gender of the subject is unspecified. Its considered a latin term, rather than an english term that derives from latin. But unlike alumnae, which refers to a group of women only, alumni can be gender neutral. Never use the phrase i am an alumni it is incorrect. Nouns ending in cy usually come from adjectives ending in tfor example, pregnancy from pregnant, complacency from complacent, hesitancy from hesitantwhile adjectives ending in l usually take the ity suffix. An alum is short for a mail or female graduate, either alumnus masculine or alumna feminine. And for a group of female graduates, you can use the plural alumnae. An alumna is a female graduate or former student of a particular school. Thats a lot of forms, not to mention a pretty complicated gender breakdown. Not sure what my point is though just that latinsgreeks use of an s on singular nouns is confusing. The university of chicago magazine issn00419508 is published quarterly by the university of chicago in cooperation with the alumni association.
The alumnus of the year leadership award is presented to an individual who. Alumni meaning in the cambridge english dictionary. Maybe youre at an allgirls school, or maybe the boys in the class all. Alumni plural of alumnus people who have attended and graduated. Alternative spelling of alumalumnus a graduate of a college or university archaic a student at a grammar school. Normality is centuries older, though, and many english authorities consider it the superior form, for what thats worth. Alumnus is known as the latin word used for a singular graduate of an institution usually a male. Consider the way in which the word alumni is used in the following sentence. Ap style holds that writers should distinguish between the words alumnus, alumni, alumna, and alumnae.
Alumnae is the plural of alumna and means female graduates. Alumnus i absolutely love the dictionary, and their weekly teachings about words. Alumnus means foster son, pupil, or to nourish in latin. How to use alumna, alumnae, alumni, alumnus correctly. As a verb graduate is ergative to be recognized by a school or university as having completed the requirements of a. Difference between alumni and alumnae samsung galaxy blog. Alumni is a plural noun referring either to a group male graduates or to a group of both male and female graduates. The words alumnus, alumna and alumni are often confused. Alumna is also a latin word, meaning, a woman graduate or former student of a school, college, or university. Alumni is the plural of alumnus but can also be used to refer to a group of men and woman graduatesformer students. The singular alumnus refers to one male graduate, alumna refers to one female graduate, and the plural alumnae refers to a group of female graduates. Noun head the alumni of this university include many famous artists and politicians an individual alumnus or alumna.
The group, founded in 2015, with the help of various foundations, sponsors the education of 116 girls almost a third of the student. Its from latin and common enough that alumnuses is going to get you a side eye but you run the risk of coming across as undereducated if you use the plural form for a single person that said, its a minor bit of grammar in a. The university of chicago magazine 5235 south harper court, chicago, il 60615 phone. These latin loanwords preserve their original plural forms, and incorrect use of. Using the information above can help to ensure that you dont mix up these similar words with latin endings. Alumnae are important partners in the continued success of the girls club.
And check out our books about the english language. Its from latin and common enough that alumnuses is going to get you a side eye but you run the risk of coming across as undereducated if you use the plural form for a single person. Alum versus alumni grammar girl quick and dirty tips. Alumnus is used to refer to a male graduate or former student.
Ms chastains column, which was published on world net daily, claimed the organisation was touting ms ocasiocortez as a successful girl scout alumni. Alumni is the plural of alumnus and means male graduates or a mixture of both male and female graduates. Turns out theres a slightly different word for women. Graduates or former students of a particular educational institution. Alumni is the plural noun for a group of male graduates or male and female graduates. It is also accepted as a term for a malefemale group of former students. And what about the related words alumna, alumnus, and alumnae. As of 2011, alumni also have received more than 35 national book awards and 123 pulitzer. Declension of alumn singular plural indefinite definite indefinite definite nominative. We are therefore delighted to let you know that we are now working with the charity future first to help to strengthen the. As an africanamerican ncc alumnus, i remain involved, albeit tangentially, in ncc affairs. Secondly, it is ironic how people manage to graduate from college without knowing the proper usage of alumni along its singular form alumnus.
Alumni article about alumni by the free dictionary. One way to remember the difference between these four words is to think of other words in english with similar endings. Coeducational institutions usually use alumni for graduates of both sexes. My friend is a grammar geek and will not put her child in something with improper english. So i am an alumna of the university of washington in seattle and an alumna of stanford university. These latin loanwords preserve their original plural forms, and incorrect use of the words abounds because many speakers of english. Alumnus definition is a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university usually used of a man in the singular but often of men and women in the plural. The singular is alumnus for men and alumna for women. Two similar words, both used in daily context, but alumni is used more, and does have a different meaning. The word in singular form, of course is unlikely to be used, for example, in the education section of an employment resume.
The difference between alumnus and alumni is very basic as the latter is the plural form of the former. This week the dictionary looks at the words alumni and alumnus. A male graduate is an alumnus, a female graduate is an alumna. The history of alum, alumnus, alumna, alumni, and alumnae. Alumni is the most common of the four words by more than double. Altrincham grammar school for girls is aiming to create a network of former students. We believe that your connection to your school should not end when you leave, and we would like all our past pupils to keep in touch.
As nouns the difference between alumni and graduate is that alumni is while graduate is senseid a person who is recognized by a university as having completed the requirements of a degree studied at the institution. Alumnus definition in the cambridge english dictionary. Normality and normalcy are different forms of the same word. Alumna is used to refer to a woman graduate or former student. The 1999 alumni of memorial university are invited to attend a luncheon in honor of the retirement of dr. Alumni is for plural graduates who are all men or a mixed group of men and women.
Whats up with alumnus, alumna, alumni, and alumnae. The alumni of a school, college, or university are the people who used to be students. As any dictionary will tell us, an alumnus is a graduate of a school, college, or university. Oct 12, 2011 hi, when i see alumni, its often in a context of fundraising for the university. Demonstrates the ideals of the credit union philosophy. Alumni is the plural of alumnus male and alumna female. Separate, but from the same root, is the adjective almus nourishing, found in the phrase alma mater, a title for a persons home university. Ap style uses alumnus when referring to a man who has attended a school.
Lgs, lghs and gsal the grammar school at leeds alumni have achieved outstanding success in a range of diverse fields. The most famous alumni of school is vikas jain who is one of the prominent analysts in financial community globally. Hintus is usually an ending of masculine names and words, such as cassius, jesus and alumnus. Jun 30, 2008 alumnus is a masculine noun whose plural is alumni, and alumna is a feminine noun whose plural is alumnae. Though modern times have changed it to mean graduates of an institution which could be either male or. Alumna, alumnae, alumni, alumnus alumni is a plural noun referring either to a group male graduates or to a group of both male and female graduates. Even though alumni is the plural of the alumnus, which is male, it is used quite often to refer to a group of graduates that are both male and female. Hi, when i see alumni, its often in a context of fundraising for the university. Alumnus definition and meaning collins english dictionary. Although alumnus usually refers to academics, it can also mean a former employee, associate, or member of any organized group. An alumnus is a male graduate or former student of a particular school. As an alum of ottawa hill scouts, betsy is always welcome to attend our events. Alumnus is a masculine noun whose plural is alumni, and alumna is a feminine noun whose plural is alumnae. Alumni and alumnae are two words sourced from latin, just as alumnus and alumna, which are often used in a wrong way.
Current students and alumni are invited to submit nominations for the 2020 scms alumnus of the year. The graduate was a woman, and the title on the page was alumni profile followed by her name. The plural form for graduates and other former matriculated students is alumni. The english language has borrowed heavily from latin, sanskrit and later french. Alumna definition is a girl or woman who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university. If we can see all the deserving girls complete their studies without any financial issues, we would have achieved our goals, says sheila mugadimunyiri, pangani girls alumni association steering committee member. If it is confusing to some, the reason is the two words being latin. Alumna definition, a woman who is a graduate or former student of a specific school, college, or university. An alumni association is a college or universitys association of former students. Technically, alumni is the masculine plural form of the noun, but it can be used for either a group of mixed gender or a group of men. Thats because latin grammar has a lot more distinctions based on gender than english grammar does. But those who object to masculine forms in such cases may prefer the phrase alumni and alumnae or the form alumnaei, which is the choice of many womens colleges. Alumni refers to a group of two or more former students of a particular school. My sisters are both alumnae of atherton high school.